1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to cosmetic devices and, more particularly, to eyebrow shaping techniques and related apparatus.
2. Exemplary Prior Art and its Limitations
The Golden Ratio is a proportion universally found in Nature, expressed in the arrangement of branches along the stems of plants, in the placement of the shell spirals in snails, and in the features of the human body. The Golden Ratio is usually denoted by the Greek letter φ (‘phi’), and it expresses the relationship that the sum of two quantities is to the larger quantity as the larger is to the smaller (its numerical approximation is 1.618033989). Leonardo da Vinci and many other great artists have used the Golden Ratio in their works, as it is believed to result in proportions that are not only natural but also especially pleasing aesthetically. Hence, their idea of a “perfect” face would conform to the Golden Ratio φ in various proportions including:                Head Height (Scalp-to-Chin) divided by Head Width (Temple-to-Temple);        Horizontal distance between Outer-edges-of-Eyes divided by Length-of-Mouth;        Horizontal distance between Center-of-Eyes divided by Width-of-Nose;        Vertical distance from Hairline-to-Chin divided by Hairline-to-Nosetip; and        Vertical distance from Eyeline-to-Lips divided by Eyeline-to-Nosetip.        
Similarly, the inventor has determined that on a “perfect” face, the High Point (“HP”) of the eyebrow arch between its Starting Point (“SP”) adjacent the nose and its End Point (“EP”) adjacent the temple would divide the eyebrow arch at precisely the Golden Ratio point between the SP and the EP (SP-to-HP divided by HP-to-EP=φ). The inventor has also observed that when the SP is on an imaginary guide line running vertically through the middle of the respective nostril, the EP on a second imaginary guide line running from the outer edge of the nostril through the outside end of the eye and the HP is located on an intermediate imaginary guide line extending from the center of the nose through the iris at the center of a woman's eye, there is an optimal match between her eyebrows and her other facial features. Although such a placement of the HP will typically be at the Golden Ratio only for a “perfect” face, it will also result in an aesthetically pleasing adjustment to the Golden Ratio when the other facial proportions (and in particular the size and location of the eyes relative to the other facial features) are less than “perfect”. In practice these imaginary guide lines exist in three dimensional space and are prone to parallax errors. Stencils are commercially available which are provided with eyebrow cut-outs divided at the Golden Ratio point that provide a limited number of aesthetically pleasing eyebrow shapes for use on many different faces; however because each stencil has a fixed size and shape of cut-out, for a significant number of women the corresponding SP, EP and HP positions on the stencil will not fall exactly on the above-described properly placed SP, EP and HP guide lines. Moreover, not all eyes are perfectly sized and positioned in accordance with the Golden Ratio proportions. Accordingly a skilled beautician will constantly reposition the stencil as she is tracing the stencil cut-out, such that the SP, EP, and HP of the stencil are close to the desired locations on her client's face as the respective portion of the stencil cut-out is being traced. Obviously a beautician of lesser skill will have not only difficulty in determining the proper SP, EP, and HP locations on the client's face, but will also have difficulty in maintaining a smooth curve as the stencil is being repositioned and in maintaining symmetry between the two eyebrows.